HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The Ouachita Tiger volleyball team won a five set thriller over Arkansas Tech in the Great American Conference Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday evening inside Bank OZK Arena.

The victory places the Tigers in the GAC Tournament semifinal against top seeded Harding tomorrow evening at 6:00 p.m. This will be the Tigers first appearance in the GAC semifinals since the 2016 season.

First-Team All-GAC selection Adrianna Nolly (Denton, Texas) tied her career high in kills with 24 to lead the Tigers offensively. Katie Camp (Plano, Texas) chipped in 17 kills and Tabatha Huckabee (North Richland Hills, Texas) added 11 to the mix.

The GAC Setter of the Year, Stormi Leonard (Decatur, Texas) produced 59 assists in the Tigers victory, her seventh 50 plus assist game of the season. The senior setter also finished with her 12th double-double of the season and the 47th of her career, placing Leonard in a tie for second All-Time in the GAC record books with Alissa Benson of Southeastern Oklahoma State.

Julianna Mack (Little Rock, Ark.) and Shannon Hogan (Plano, Texas) each contributed double-digit digs to the match on Thursday evening.

The opening set was tight throughout the first few points, with each team battling for every single point. Arkansas Tech went on an early 3-0 run and forced Ouachita to call a timeout at 10-6. Out of the timeout, Ouachita scored four unanswered points behind the powerful swing of Nolly.

The Tigers went on a 7-3 run over the next few moments to take the lead back at 14-13. The lead exchange forced the Golden Suns to take a timeout. The timeout did not necessarily help as the Tigers kept the pressure on. Arkansas Tech used their second and final timeout with Ouachita leading 21-18 in the opening set. Nolly ended the first set with seven kills as Ouachita took the opening set 25-21.

The Golden Suns came out swinging in the second set as they took an early 6-0 lead, prompting Ouachita to burn an early timeout. Out of the timeout Ouachita won the first three points to cut the lead in half, it did not last long as the Golden Suns saw their lead balloon to 13-5.

Ouachita finally began to produce a little bit of offense as they won five consecutive points, cutting the Golden Suns lead to a trio of points. The quick offensive spurt by the Tigers forced Arkansas Tech to take a timeout, leading 13-10.

The Tigers used another 5-0 run in the second set to take a 17-15 advantage. Arkansas Tech used their second and final timeout in the process. Out of the timeout break the Tigers kept the pressure on and took the second set 25-22.

Throughout the third set the Tigers and the Golden Suns battled for every point. Each team took turns taking the lead at some point in the set, but at 18 all Arkansas Tech used a timeout to try and gain momentum back in the match.

It did not work out to the Golden Suns advantage. Ouachita Baptist head coach Allison Frizzell-Kizer used a successful challenge at 20-20 to win the go-ahead point. Moments later Ouachita held a 23-21 advantage and Arkansas Tech was forced to use a second timeout. The timeout worked as Ouachita was unable to execute on back-to-back match point chances. Ouachita called timeout with the third stanza tied at 24 all. Arkansas Tech won the final four points of the set and took the third frame 26-24.

As one would expect out of the fourth and fifth seeds in the tournament, the two teams went point-for-point in the fourth stanza. Arkansas Tech went on a small spurt in the middle of the set to take a 16-13 lead, prompting Ouachita to take a timeout. Moments later the Tigers found themselves in a similar predicament, this time however the Tigers were staring at a 20-13 deficit from Arkansas Tech. The Golden Suns forced a fifth set with a 25-18 fourth set win.

The Tigers offense roared back to life in the fifth set. Nolly set the tone early in the set with back-to-back kills to give Ouachita a 2-0 lead. Moments later the Ouachita lead extended to 6-3 and forced Arkansas Tech to call a timeout. Out of the timeout break, freshman Emily Low (Austin, Texas) powered the ball past a pair of Golden Sun players and gave the Tigers a 7-4 edge.

Moments later the Tigers won a crucial challenge to extend their lead to 10-6. The Golden Suns called another timeout at the 11-6 mark. The Tigers had the match won but a challenge on match point gave the Golden Suns another chance at keeping the match alive. A pair of points later and the Tigers took the final set 15-11.

For all the latest news on the Ouachita volleyball team be sure to log onto obutigers.com or follow the official social media accounts of Ouachita athletics.